Refuge: the state of being safe or sheltered from pursuit, danger, or difficulty.

~~~

Thoughts embedded into words as I admitted to the knowledge I had consumed over years of isolation.

"I guess it was useless, one way or another he was going to disappear."

"And even though you're used to your Mum going on dates, you've never thought about having a Stepfather?"

I hugged my knees to my chest and chewed on another orange slice, "Some things just aren't meant to happen."

Jesse was silent, and we absorbed the moment by mutely listening to the soft tweets and songs of different birds that were scattered throughout the trees of this little park.

Dawn had arrived.

The house was too quiet for me because Mum had slipped out at midnight and never returned, maybe she was back to her old antics. Regardless, I'd desperately yearned for some company and Jesse had called me at just the right time. He had managed to sneak out of his house, whilst I'd prepared myself for the day ahead by taking my medication extra early.

The sky was an oddity of grey-blue, fragments of brighter lights gently penetrating the layers of faded colours.

I felt his arm press against me as he slid closer, his body residing a sense of warmth towards mine.

I'd never experienced a relationship like this before.

Cautiously, I met his eyes as a sign of confirmation, wondering what he was feeling.

"What?" Jesse's face broke into a smile, almost as illuminating as the sky transitioning.

I shook my head before chuckling, noticing an eyelash that was perching on his right cheek. My fingers brushed against his skin, eager to move the speck that obstructed his face.

As I flicked the eyelash away, he flinched before grabbing my hand and making me freeze.

It was as if we had all the time in the world, and we were wasting the draining minutes by simply staring at each other.

"Jesse, let go of my hand." I finally murmured.

He ran his free hand through his hair before smirking, "You let go."

I raised by eyebrows before attempting to pull away from his grasp, only to feel him move his body over mine.

Almost jumping in fright, I raised my eyebrows in shock as Jesse heavily leaned into me.

"Well someone's related to the Hulk." He murmured as I pushed him away.

"Can you really imagine me broccoli green and running in a pair of...what? Boxers?" I met Jesse's eyes in offence.

He wiggled his eyebrows goofily before announcing, "You can wear mine."

"Oh gross!" I grimaced, punching his shoulder.

"Hey!" He nudged me with his elbow, "Guys can like Mickey Mouse too!"

He leaned into me, chuckling loudly until the contagious sound had caught me, our bodies grazing over eachother as we laughed.

After a few minutes we quietened down whilst Jesse buried his face into the side of my neck. I squirmed at the weird sensation of his eyebrows scratching my skin, his pointed nose poking into me as he heavily breathed.

Somehow, he still managed to speak, and asked, "Should I tell Sasha?"

I leaned my head over his and pondered, "I don't want to keep secrets from everyone."

"Well I'm guessing Davina is aware, right?"

I flinched in surprise at his statement, "How did you know?"

"Trust me, I've gotten familiar with this Girl Code thing."

A suspicious feeling arose in me, and I wondered just how much experience he really had, compared to me, a newbie in this couple thing.

"We still have two hours left." I murmured after checking my phone.

The feeling of togetherness was almost bittersweet. The ideology of being obliged to somebody juxtaposed the obligations somebody had to you.

The new perspective had been thrown onto me, and I couldn't help doubting my feelings. Was it a whim?

That's feeble Ava, you know it.

Was I meant to know how this worked?

"Zombie?" I snapped my head at his voice, dosing back into the idle park.

"Huh?"

"Did you hear anything I just said?"

I shook my head guiltily as Jesse pinched my nose, before he repeated himself, "Ever thought of getting a pet?"

"A pet?" I paused for a moment and imagined an assortment of animals running loose in my house, "It's a bit difficult with Mum and I rotating in and out of home."

"What about a hamster or something?" He asked.

I wrinkled my nose, "I'd rather it be a cat or dog, but my Mum despises dogs to the core."

Jesse stretched his arms outwards, "What about a kitten? Most girls are absorbed in the entire 'cute' thing."

I met his eyes briefly, "Can you really imagine this face squealing and giggling about a baby animal?"

"Easy, you already look like that around me." he smiled confidentally and my jaw dropped in disgust.

"Gross!" I shoved Jesse's arm, "You're not my world."

He laughed wildly before kissing my forehead as if I was a disrupted child, "No, but I'm your universe."

~

I squinted at the miniscule words that were printed in pitch black across the manipulated paper, trying to adjust my focus onto the historic demands.

Right now, I couldn't care less about Reaganomics. What mattered more was my foolish ignorance that had maintained my body in the morning.

I knew I shouldn't have stayed out with Jesse, but that empty abyss of loneliness urged for companionship; I was too weak to resist. It was a demanding emotion where I couldn't admit to refusing him or letting him down, like I had something to uphold.

I placed a hand over my heated forehead and sighed, desiring a lingering cold surface to dissipate the uneccessary warmth.

Everyone else was absorbing the time to catalyse their writing speed, drips of concentration creating a pool of silence.

A tap on the desk vibrated through my eardrums as my eyes followed the sound to a caramel coloured finger, "What's wrong?"

I lifted my heavy head and then winced at the impact of the gesture, murmuring, "I don't feel so good." before I had even met her eyes.

"I can see." Ms Hernandez acknowledged what probably looked like my sweaty face, before raising her head and scanning the rest of the class like a machine.

Both Davina and Sasha had paused from their ferocious scribbles, wanting to indicate that they were available. It was pointless, because she motioned for them to continue, already aware that the two girls held potential and required this test to measure their knowledge. They reluctantly placed their thoughts back into a pen, both giving me apologetic gazes that beseeched into my burning head.

"Davis, you're done, aren't you?"

Both of our skulls snapped upwards and I almost shrank back, remembering his prior attitude. He nodded his head gloomily, looking back at the paper and murmuring, "My writing is about as useful as an empty paper."

"Pack your things, I'll give you an out of lesson slip," She tapped my shoulder before inclining her head to the boy, "Take Ava to the nurse."

I grimaced, wanting to rather do a cartwheel than spend company alone with a grinch-like Davis. "I can take myself Ms, don't worry."

"I don't think so." Her voice wasn't one to reckon with, and against the soreness of my body I was quick to place my backpack on.

Davis had heaved himself up too, and Ms Hernandez didn't hold an eased face as she sent us out, her mouth firmly in a tight line.

I loved silent and empty corridors, they were the next best thing to Chinese cuisine. The quiet walls were the epitome of peace, and serenity contrasted to the usual destination for masses of students.

It was hard to enjoy with Davis beside me, who was staring me down like I was a coded message. Eventually, as our footsteps paced down the long floor, he asked, "How did you get like that?"

"Like what?" I murmured quietly, afraid that my own voice would be too exploitive for my ears.

"You look like someone dropped you into a volcano." He raised his eyebrows, pushing a grey door open as we moved down the stairs.

I wavered for a mere second, seeing the sight of the steps and gingerly moving down them. I couldn't be asked to retaliate to his comment so instead, I replied with what I wanted to, "I knew I shouldn't have gone out today morning, I could feel it coming."

"Idiot." He muttered, steering my shoulder, "You look like a pot of jelly, you'll fall."

My knees were trembling and my head felt like it was a boulder, so I relied on Davis to lead the way.

In a spare minute, we had made it to the sinister room that held a concrete bed, various shelves and a nurse who was furiously scribbling something down.

As Davis knocked lightly on the open door to indicate our arrival, I leaned against the doorframe and huffed some air out of my burning lungs.

"Sit down." She frowned heavily, taking out a thermometer.

Davis took my previous spot as I heaved my body onto the surface, opening my mouth as she waited for the digital reader to configure some numbers.

Temperature or not, it was obvious that I was as healthy as a trampled ant.

"It's not too high for a fever, but you look worrying." She paused before scrutinising my face, as if I wasn't aware of the perspiration building.

"She's Ava Lockhart," Davis's voice interrupted the awkward silence, his eyes met mine and he sighed, "A stupid fool."

The nurse ran her hand against her dyed red hair, trying to summon her thoughts before the gears clicked into place, "Oh!"

I grimaced at that response, she had just realised my condition.

"Alright!" Snapping back into action she gestured for me to lie down, "I'm going to call your family, you're going to have to get enough rest so it doesn't become more severe."

The scratchy bed was exploiting the comfort of its job, and I reluctantly lay my body down, squeezing my eyes shut and sighing.

"Here, you can hold this on her head while I go and try to make contact." My mind was too distant to bother searching for the object she had given Davis.

As her heeled boots clicked down the hall and to the office, I turned my body to my right and squinted one eye open, staring at Davis's cautious expression as he held a soaked soft towel.

I held out a hand miserly, "Let me do it."

I expected him to surrender, put the cautious contact of the damp material wasn't nearly as uncomfortable as the words that suddenly whispered onwards, "You're not fair."

~

"Son of a-" I opened my eyes, shrinking back at what I saw.

A pair of wide brown eyes brightly stared me down, and an unfamiliar girl smiled widely before loudly exclaiming, "Davis didn't kill her!"

I fell back at the impact of her loud voice and as she shot out of the foreign room I sat up, unbuttoning the first two buttons of my shirt and fanning myself against a portruding heat.

I ran my hands through my puff of bedhead hair, narrowing it down as I stated at the room.

The light ashy grey was painted matte around the walls, whilst posters of athletes and famous figures were plastered around the room. I bit down a smile, staring at the famous movements and quotes from activists like Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and even Muhammad Ali. The black desk had a section of framed photos running against the left hand side, though a small one had been upturned like a forgotten memory.

"Feeling better?" My attention shifted as I looked up at Davis, his body standing in the doorway, hiding a little girl of about six years.

"A little," I sighed before questioningly raising my eyebrows, "I'm at your house?"

Davis rolled his eyes before asking, "You don't have any other family apart from your mum?"

I nodded my head and met his eyes, "Mum's an orphan, and the entire dad thing is..." I tailed off as my vision followed the little girl who was now staring into my face as if it was intriguing.

I did not expect her to announce, "Your hair is messy!" And rather than flushing in embarrassment, I burst out into giggles as she ran off.

"Mimi!" Davis's head snapped towards his little sister, who had disappeared out of the room muttering to herself. He glanced back at me apologetically, "Sorry."

"Why?" I smirked in amusement and gestured to my head, "It's true."

I stretched my arms and ignored the biting pain at the back of my mind, I'd have to use my inhaler soon.

"Anyway, thanks for this," I motioned towards the bed.

Davis shrugged a shoulder upwards, "It's alright, do you need anything?"

"I'm good thanks, I should actually text my mum though." I murmured to myself as I stepped out of the bed, pulling my skirt to cover me and then proceeding to shuffle through my backpack that sat at the end of the bed.

"I'm back!" Looking up, I curiously stared at the girl who had arrived with a baby blue toolbox in the shape of a cat face.

"Sit on the floor! I'm going to save your love life."

I raised my eyebrows in confusion as Davis snorted, laughing as his sister made me sit on the carpet, my tights pressing against the material. She toppled onto the bed before brandishing a hairbrush, "Your hair is so nice! Why don't you take care of it?"

I met Davis's eyes and wondered aloud, "Is that a compliment or insult?"

He shrugged, smiling at us in such a genuine way that I almost wanted to look back at Mimi and check if she was aware of her presence.

"Ava can't help it, she's a mouldy Avacado."

I raised my eyebrows at him as a brush dragged through my hair, "Not funny."

"Shh!" Mimi whispered loudly, "Princesses can't have nice hair unless they're good."

"They can't?" I repeated.

"Well that's what brother says to me." Mimi hummed to herself and I laughed as Davis protested in embarrassment.

As her delicate fingers wound around the threads of my loose hair, I sent Mum a quick text, almost hoping she wouldn't see it soon because of this light-hearted atmosphere I was enjoying.

I looked up from my screen, and back at Davis, expecting to see him doing anything but fondly locking eyes with me, a treacherous smile of simplicity stirring the contents of my stomach.

A/N: I wanted to write so much more for the end guys, but I shall save it for the next chapter!

Enjoy x